Since April we have been trying to find out from the court what happened with this case, which has clearly been at least irregular. We have had to make complaints to get any kind of response and the matter is still not clear.

Now you are demanding a “notice of change” giving a solicitor’s details for us to receive any further information. Can you please let us know what law or rule states that only a solicitor can investigate a court not following its own rules and procedures.

You state that a full order was made on the same day as the interim order. This means that your court issued the interim order when it had already ceased to be valid, while it did not issue the full order which would have clarified the situation. The interim order includes criminal sanctions and the actions of your court put people under threat of arrest for an offence which they would not have been committing.

You also state that a certificate of judgement was issued by a different court. Could you please explain how this is allowed under rules which state that application should be made to the court (i.e. the County Court where the judgement was made) for transfer to the High Court. It is clearly the duty of the County Court to give notice to the defendants that this has happened, which did not take place.

I hope that someone in your court can explain these numerous legal anomalies.

we really need a more up to date version of the Civil Court Practice / Civil Procedure rules

We are currently using a 2012 Green Book, which doesn’t even have CPR 83, the new rules on enforcement. Someone must be working somewhere that has the 2015 version in and could give us your hand-me-downs

Jasmin from Focus E15 had been arrested under S144 because of her campaigning activities.

Focus E15 say:

The Police have decided there is not enough evidence to charge Jasmin (But we knew this anyway).

WE SHALL NOW BE HOLDING A VICTORY RALLY Saturday on our Street Stall. Plz come and join us 12-2pm Stratford Broadway E15.

Jasmin Stone, 20, a member of the Focus E15 housing campaign, was released on police bail following a raid on the night of Monday 13th April 2015 by Scotland Yard officers and Newham council on the two-bedroom top floor council flat in Kerrison Road, Stratford E15.

We had loads of fantastic support at the police station on that evening with ‘FREE JASMIN STONE’ banners etc.

It would seem that police are arresting people who may of visited the Love Activist squat in Liverpool. If the police arrive at your property make sure you seek legal advice we recommend Robert Lizar solicitors 07900998999

“Mayoral candidate Ada Colau thinks squatters shouldn’t be evicted from unused buildings. Some polls show she’s in the lead.

There are far worse things for a city than having squatters occupying empty real estate. That’s the message from Barcelona this month, where upcoming city elections are putting illegal building occupation close to the top of the agenda.

Mayoral candidate Ada Colau, heading up a broad, left-leaning party platform dubbed Barcelona en Comú (“Barcelona in Common”), says that if she is elected on May 24, the city will no longer evict squatters from unused public buildings. The crime of leaving buildings empty when there is a need for housing, Colau suggests, is far greater than using them without permission. Should she become mayor, Barcelona will only pursue public building evictions if there is a safety issue….. “

The last two and a half years have been extremely hard for people squatting in England and Wales. Due to section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (s144 LASPOA), almost 600 young homeless people have been arrested by the police, and at least 200 prosecuted for the offence of sheltering themselves in empty and unused buildings.

In 2013, Squatters Action for Secure Homes (SQUASH) released “The Case Against Section 144”, a six month review of the effects of s144 LASPOA since it came into effect in 2012. The report found s144 LASPOA to be Unjust, Undemocratic, Unnecessary, and Unaffordable, and predicted that it would adversely affect the most vulnerable in society. SQUASH has just released its latest report “Homes, Not Jails” (April 2015), a 28-month review of the effects of s144 LASPOA using freedom of information data and case studies. The report has found that for the period September 2012 to January 2015:

· There have been at least588 arrests, 200 prosecutions and 51 convictions under s144 LASPOA, with 75% of those arrests occurring in London.

· Case studies and statistics show that the police use s144 LASPOA in an arbitrary manner, to summarily evict people suspected of squatting, without sufficient evidence.

· Those prosecuted have been men and women, aged between 21 and 41. This is the exact demographic that is taking the brunt of Britain’s current housing crisis in the form of PRS evictions, welfare cuts, and exclusion from affordable housing options.

· Most evictions and arrests under s144 LASPOA occurred during the Winter months (October – March), endangering the lives and well-being of those thrown out into the freezing cold. The case of 35-year old homeless man, Daniel Gauntlett, who died in February 2013 from hypothermia, shows what can happen.

· Throughout, there have been calls by politicians on the right and left, as well mainstream media outlets, to extend the criminalisation of squatting to commercial buildings, which threatens to create housing instability for many more young people.

The “Homes, Not Jails” report (6-pages) and the supporting evidence Appendix (55-pages) can be found by visiting the SQUASH website:

SQUASH are concerned that s144 LASPOA is criminalising the homeless, and detrimentally affecting the quality of life for many thousands of people. We are therefore calling for s144 LASPOA to be repealed, and an end to illegal and unlawful evictions. Squatting must return to being a civil matter, because the police and magistrates are not equipped to deal with questions of possession and property law.

from Focus E15
JANE HAS COME HOME
Jane is occupying her former council home as a political protest after she was evicted by Newham Labour council in March 2015. On Saturday 11th April, with full support from the Focus E15 campaign and many others, the doors of her former council flat were flung open and Jane threw a surprise house warming party. She was warmly welcomed back by her neighbours, family and friends. Jane was quick to hang up a newly made banner which states ‘Jane Come Home’ to the delight of her many well wishers and supporters who partied alongside her.

Jane has a daughter who is 14 years old. They were both evicted from their home on the 24 March 2015 after being a tenant of Newham council for 20 years. Another victim of the government’s harsh benefit sanctions, she fell into rent arrears when her Employment Support Allowance was suddenly stopped and her housing benefit cut. She was evicted because she owes the council about 5 months rent of £2,569 (this figure includes some court costs). She missed the court date due to a combination of depression, illiteracy and fear.

Help was in hand when her family offered to pay the full amount of rent owing but the council point blank refused the offer and said it was too late. On the day of the eviction Jane passed out with the stress and became another part of the tragic statistics for the amount of homeless families in Newham: almost 5,000 children are living in temporary accommodation. In the last two years alone, Newham has seen a 42 per cent increase in the amount of homeless familes, according to the figures analysed by Labour MP Dame Tessa Jowell and released from the Department for Communities and Local Government. This injustice has to stop.People need homes. The council should start to address these shocking statistics by giving Jane and her daughter their home back.

After all, the amount or rent that is due is not much more than the monthly rent of one of the new luxury apartments that are mushrooming all over Stratford.We are asking the council to accept Jane’s family’s offer to pay the rent, clear the debt and allow Jane and her 14 year old daughter back into their home so that normal family life can resume. Jane’s daughter needs to attend her local school where she is due to sit her GCSEs.

After 50 years since Ken Loach made the film Cathy Come Home, we are raising the issues of evictions and social cleansing in our community with the slogan Jane Come Home. Victory to Jane and all those who face the brutality of being ripped from their homes by council enforced bailiffs.

What you can do to help.

Contact Jane’s Labour MP Lyn Brown to ask her to put pressure on the council for Jane to Come Home.